Joensuu - European Forestry Capital

In Joensuu, we can enjoy the close proximity to the forests in and around the city. The deep green areas on the European forest map indicate high forest cover - and the eastern part of Finland certainly is part of this area. One of the oldest gods in the Scandinavian tradition has been Tapio, the god and king of forests. The Vikings knew him well, the ancient soul of the forests whose blessing was needed for hunting. Even the Finns of today tend to carry the soul of forests inside themselves, and feel the call of the nature at least in their leisure time.

In past centuries and decades a wealth of knowledge related to forests and the environment has been gathered in Joensuu. For example, this ranges from the ability to beautifully construct modern wooden buildings to the monitoring of forest resources on a global scale, from research on the effects of climate change and the use of wood energy to the behaviour of a certain beetle species after a forest fire. Joensuu is leading the bioeconomy sector development in Finland. Take a more detailed look through the links below.